Captain Marvel

As an avid fan of the MCU, there’s one of the things I never really caught myself saying after getting out of an origins movie. And that is,

Watch Captain Marvel

Yes, even the highly acclaimed Black Panther wasn’t able to make me say that or even the my favorite MCU character, Captain America, in First Avenger was able to make me say that about their films. This is the first time that a Marvel Cinematic Universe origin story was able to feel more like a story that had Superhero/Comic book elements instead of a Comic book story turned into a big screen Superhero Jump off point.

Directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck was able to make Captain Marvel an origins story that had heart, a compelling narrative, and a story that made sense (at least for a superhero flick). This is the first time I actually felt compelled to follow the lead’s story instead of just waiting to see each and every nod that’s expected in a Marvel story. For those who are familiar with Carol‘s complicated comic book history, Captain Marvel sidesteps everything that made her story such a headache and is able to weave it’s own logical narrative based on the situation we see Brie Larson‘s Carol Danvers is thrown into.

We are given a solidly created character that is not only believable, but someone that you’d root for even if she isn’t perfect cause she doesn’t try to be.

This is a first since Robert Downing Jr.‘s breakout performance as Tony Stark that we see a complete character with Larson‘s Carol Danvers. And when I say a complete character, I meant that a character that has personality without the relying on a plot device or villain to bounce off. You can definitely see who Carol Danvers is even if you remove Jude Law‘s Yon-Rogg or even Samuel L. Jackson‘s Nick Fury out of the equation. This is brought upon not just by the stellar writing team, but also by the performance of Brie Larson who is clearly enjoying her role as the MCU‘s first solo female lead. You can also clearly see that while the movie still dives into a lot of the superhero tropes you’d expect in a film, Larson‘s performance is able to go past that and make us believe that her Carol Danvers is more than just another MCU superhero.

However, that isn’t to say that the support cast is too shabby either. I expected much with Jude Law‘s casting as Yon-Rogg since I really loved his take on Watson in Sherlock Holmes and I was not disappointed. What I enjoyed the most was the on-screen chemistry between Danvers and the “younger” Nick Fury. The banter and the way Larson and Jackson are to throw lines at each other and making it such a believable banter is a nice touch for the performance of the two stars. That’s why most of the enjoyable moments in the film were the two of them are in the same scene.

Of course the movie is without it’s faults. One of the more prominent ones I’ve experienced is the way the music is inserted into some scenes take you out of the experience. While normally MCU movies are on-point with this practice there were scenes in Captain Marvel that didn’t quite fit the partnered music chosen. There were also a lot of points in the narrative that requires you to suspend your disbelief, but then again this is a comic book movie so that’s to be expected.

Captain Marvel hits a lot of right notes that previous MCU origin movies failed to hit. It’s able to show us a compelling story line that’s supported by a strong cast of actors and even a stronger set of writers in MCU history. It’s a movie that has heart, and doesn’t hurt our brain to make us believe that it is. While it is on the nose on a lot of critical plot aspects, it’s a movie that’s not only inspiring, it’s a movie that’s able to bring forth a strong independent woman lead to the forefront sans the tropes you’d expect in such a movie. It may not be the strongest movie the MCU stable has, but Captain Marvel is definitely one of the best origin movies to date.

This movie made me want to ask from MCU more female lead solo movies. And it seems like Marvel has finally hit the nail on it’s head with Captain Marvel.